Review by Jill Hedgecock
What happened to little Theo? Was the toddler kidnapped? Murdered? This is the major premise of The Lake House by Kate Morton (2016, Atria Books; Reprint edition, paperback, 512 pages $11.88). Theo had disappeared from the Edevane estate in Cornwall, England during their annual Midsummer party in June 1933. The case has remained unsolved for 70 years.
Fast forward to 2003 in London when Sarah, a former policewoman who has been put on leave and returned to Cornwall to stay with her grandfather, stumbles upon the abandoned Edevane property while out running. The derelict house intrigues Sarah because it appears that the former occupants up and left without packing a single possession. When Sarah learns about the tragedy of Theo’s disappearance, her detective skills kick in. She contacts one of Theo’s sisters, Alice. But Theo’s sister wants to bury the past, but through Sarah’s prodding, Alice learns that one of her assumptions about what happened on that fateful evening in 1933 has been wrong.
The story unfolds in pieces between Alice’s childhood and the Edevane family saga in 1933 and Sarah and Alice’s current lives. Red herrings tucked into this novel keep the reader guessing on Theo’s fate. Several nannies, a retired medical doctor, and a handsome young groundskeeper could have played a role in Theo’s disappearance. Then there’s the backstory of Theo’s and Alice’s parents. Eleanor, a fiercely devoted wife and Anthony, a nature lover, war veteran, and loving father.
The Lake House received a a Woman & Home Reader’s Choice Award for Best Historical Thriller (2016) and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2015). Readers who enjoy a compelling mystery, learning about the effects of World War I on servicemen, and poetic prose will love this book. The mystery of what happened to Theo launches this otherwise quiet book into a page-turning frenzy.
Kate Morton is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. Her five novels are published in over 40 countries, in 34 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world. Kate grew up in Queensland and now splits her time between London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature with a focus in nineteenth-century tragedy and contemporary Gothic novels. Morton says of her experiences as a reader and novelist, “I fell deeply in love with books as a child and believe that reading is freedom; that to read is to live a thousand lives in one; that fiction is a magical conversation between two people – you and me – in which our minds meet across time and space.”
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